Retractable hanger



Jan. 9, 19.68 G. D. LEGGE 4RETRAGTABLE HANGER Filed March 4. 1966 4 Akrg INVENTOR. @fa/pe gge TOR/vnf United States Patent O 3,362,669 RETRACTABLE HANGER George D. Legge, Farmington, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 531,920 3 Claims. (Cl. 248-293) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A retractable hanger includes a hanger member which is mounted on a base member that is screwed to a support wall. The hanger member comprises a resilient wire having a loop portion, a pair of leg portions extending therefrom, and a pair of free end portions which are bent toward each other in overlapping eccentric relationship. In one embodiment, the free ends are retained by integral base member tangs, while a retainer plate is utilized in an alternative embodiment to retain the free ends. In the free position, the hanger member legs are offset from each other, but when mounted to the base member, they are stressed into an aligned position. The legs thus bias the hanger member to stored position, while movement to an operative position limited by stop means further stresses the hanger member.

This invention relates to a retractable hanger and, more particularly, to an improved retractable clothes hanger for use in an automobile.

One feature of the invention is that it provides an improved retractable hanger. A further feature of the invention is that it provides a retractable clothes hanger specifically designed for use in an automobile, wherein the hanger member is self-biased to retracted position, thereby eliminating the separate Spring heretofore used in retracting hangers of this general type. Another feature of the invention is that the hanger member has opposite resilient legs joined at one end by a supporting loop portion, the resilient legs, when unstressed, being offset one from the other, the legs being distorted when the device is assembled so that the resilient hanger member is selfbiased to a retracted position.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a front elevation of the hanger device in assembled condition;

FIGURE 2 is a Vertical section taken along the line 2 2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 3--3 of FIGURE 1, the hanger member being shown in solid lines in retracted position and in broken lines in extended position;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the hanger member in unstressed condition;

FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of the hanger member assembled on its base, looking generally from the rear side of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 6 is a section similar to FIGURE 2 but showing a modified form of the invention; and

FIGURE 7 is an exploded isometric View of the modilied form of the invention.

In the past, hanger devices have been provided in automobile bodies, but generally, these hanger devices were fixed, as opposed to being retractable, and a fixed, hooklike device projected inside the automobile body. Devices of this nature have two serious disadvantages, the first being that they may present a danger in the event of collision and the second being that the hook device projects into the body and may catch the clothes of the oc- ICC cupants of the vehicle. Attempts have been made to provide devices of this type in which the hanger is retractable but, in these devices, a separate biasing spring has been used so that the cost of the device was considerably increased over the cost of a simple fixed hook. I have devised an improved retractable hanger which may utilize only three parts, including the mounting means. The hanger member is self-biasing so that no separate spring is necessary to hold the hanger in its retracted position when it is not in use. According to my invention, a retractable hanger member for use in an automobile may be provided at very little cost over the cost of a simple, tixedly mounted hook.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a base member comprising part of the hanger device is designated generally as 10. The base has a body portion 12 formed with an opening 13 to receive a mounting screw. Integrally formed beloW the body portion 12 is a hanger supporting portion 14 having a transverse notch which, in cooperation with the overhanging bottom wall of the body portion 12, forms a channel 16. Oppositely disposed tangs 18 and 20 on the base 10 are formed to overlie the channel 16 on opposite sides thereof. The supporting portion 14 of the base 10 is wider than the body portion 12 thereof, and the sides of the supporting portion 14 are formed into slpoing stop surfaces 15.

A hanger member, designated generally as 22., is formed of resilient material as, for example, stiff spring wire, and has opposite, resilient legs 24 and 26 which are joined at one end by a supporting loop portion 28. As shown in FIGURES 4 and 7, the resilient legs 24, 26, when unstressed, are offset one from the other adjacent their free ends in a direction generally transverse to the direction of extent Iof said legs and to the direction of a line extending between the legs adjacent their joined ends. In the hanger device illustrated, the supporting loop portion 28 faces in a plane; i.e., the plane of the paper in FIGURE l, and the legs 24, 26 are offset one from the other adjacent their free ends in a direction generally transverse of said plane as illustrated in FIGURE 4. The free end 24a of the leg 24 is bent toward the leg 26 and the free end 26a of the leg 26 is bent toward the leg 24. Since the leg 24 is shorter than the leg 26, these bent portions may lie in the same plane when the device is assembled, as shown best in FIGURES 2, 3, and 6.

In order to assemble the device, the bent end portions 24a and 26a of the respective legs are placed in the channel 16 and the tangs 18 and 20 are bent over to hold the legs in the groove. When so assembled, the free ends of the legs are distorted out of their unstressed, offset relationship, whereby the hanger is self-biased to the retracted position shown in FIGURES 2, 3 (solid lines), and 5. However, the hanger 22 is adapted to be held in extended position, as shown in broken lines in FIGURE 3, by the weight of a supported article which overcomes the bias force. When in extended position, an intermediate portion of the legs 24 and 26 rests against the stop surfaces 15. When assembled, the hanger device may be mounted by means of a screw 30 on a support, here shown as a roof rail 32 of an automobile.

A modied form of the invention is shown in FIG- URES 6 and 7. In these figures, the tangs 18 and 20 are eliminated from the base 10, and a separate retainer plate 34 is provided. This retainer plate has a tab 34a adapted to seat in a groove 34b formed in the upper portion of the body 12 of the base member 10. The retainer plate overlies the channel 16 and holds the bent legs 24a, 26a in coplanar relationship in the channel.

While I have shown and described two embodiments of my invention, it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A retractable hanger comprising a base member including stop means, a hanger member including a loop portion and a pair of resilient legs terminating in free end portions extending therefrom, the legs being normally olfset from each other, mounting means pivotally mounting the free end portions to the base in eccentric relationship to align the legs and bias the hanger member to a stored position, the hanger member being movable against the bias to an operative position engaging the stop means.

2. The retractable hanger of claim 1, wherein the free end portions are bent toward each other in spaced eccentric relationship in the free position of the hanger member and wherein the mounting means force the free end portions to a more closely spaced eccentric relationship in the mounted position.

3. The retractable hanger of claim 2, wherein one leg is shorter than the other leg and the free end portions are in overlapping relationship in both the free and mounted positions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 675,925 6/ 1901 Blair 248-294 1,461,938 7/1923 Rose 248-294 JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner'. 

